williamson



(No Model.)

J. D. WILLIAMSON, Jr.

STEERING APPARATUS. No. 472,324. Patented Apr. 5, 1 892.

WITNESSES: H

ma mums FETERS cm, mom-mam, WASHINGTON, n. c.

" NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOHN D. \VILLIAlWISON, JR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TOHIMSELF, GEORGE WV. \VILLIAMSON, AND WVILLIAM C. IVILLIAMSON, OF

SAME PLACE.

STEERING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,324, dated April 5,1892.

Application filed September 15, 1890. Serial No. 364,987. (No model.)

" low and useful Improvement in Steam and land Steering Apparatus forShips, which in- -vention is fully set forth and illustrated in thefollowing specification and accompanying drawings.

, The object of this invention is to provide certain means for throwingthe steering-drum Y eitherin or out of gear with the engine-shaft,

according as it is desired to steer by steam or other engine power or byhand-power, and to quickly accomplish this throwing in and out of gearin the pilot-house or by the helmsman tending the wheel.

The invention will first be described in detail, and then particularlysetforth in the claim. 4

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a side elevation of a combinedhand and steam steering apparatus embodying the invention hereindescribed. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of Fig. 1, looking to the right,the steering- Wheels being omitted. Fig. 3 shows in longitudinalsection, upon an enlarged scale, part of the improvement constitutingthe invention herein described and certain parts of the power drivingmechanism, including the steering-drum, which may be operated either bysteam-power or by hand, as hereinafter described.

In the figures the several parts are respectively indicated byreference-numbers, as follows, the parts not numbered forming no part ofthis invention.

The smaller hand-wheel 1, by means of the rod 2 and connecting-leversand other mechanism at each end of said rod, Fig. 1, by its revolutionin either direction, correspondingly starts the steam-engines 3, whichengines, by a worm on one common crank-shaft 1, rotate the worm-wheel 5,keyed fast to a drum-shaft 6, mounted in suitable frames or bearings 78. When said hand-wheel is held at rest, the engines quickly come to astate of rest and remain in such state, holding the rudder at thedesired angle through the intervention of the steering-drum 9 and thechains 10 so long as said drum is coupled to the worm-Wheel 5.

For convenience, said-drum is mounted loosely on the shaft 6, butcapable of sliding longitudinally thereon a certain distance upon afeather or feathers 11 on said shaft.

A clutch-coupling of any approved form, and as such forming no part ofthis invention, is formed between a disk or flange 12 on one end of thesteering-drum 9 and in one side of the worm-wheel 5. If said drum,therefore, be slid on the shaft 6 until its flange 12 couples with theworm-wheel 5, the rudder will be operated by the application of thesteam-power, as just described; but when said drum is slid in theopposite direction, so that the clutch will uncouple from thewormwheel5, the steam-power is entirely disconnected from the steering-drum andno operation of it will affect the rudder in any Way nor hinder themovement of the rudder by any other applied power. Such detaching orthrowing out of gear of steering-drum and engine connection hasheretofore been offected by devices connected to said drum and operatedat the points of their connection thereto, and in ships the apparatuscarrying the drum is generally located more or less remote from thelocation of the pilot-house or helmsma-ns wheel, usually at one deckdistant at least. Hence when it is desired to disconnect the steam-powermore or less time is necessarily lost in going below to get at andoperate the detaching device.

The object of this invention, therefore, as hereinbeforestated, is toprovide a ready means near the hand of the helmslnan by which he, whileat the wheel, or any one near him, can quickly detach the steam-power,leaving the hand-power free to operate the steering-drum for the controlof the rudder. This is effected in the following manner by the partsbelow described: The drum-shaft 6 is bored out a portion of its length,as shown in Fig. 3. WVithin said bore is placed a coupling-rod 13, keyedthrough a slot in said shaft by a cross-key 14 to the steering-drum 9,said slot being long enough to admit of said key having linear traveltherein with the sliding of said drum. The outer end of said rod,reduced in diameter, passes through the eye of a boss in the outer endof a coupling nut or sleeve 15. Said sleeve and rod are secured togetherbya nut 16 on the outer end of said rod, so that the sleeve 15 and rod13 can each rotate independently of the other, the rod being keyed atits inner end through a slot in the shaft 6 to the drum 9,ashcreinbefore described. The sleeve 15 is threaded,so that it will screwa certain distance on and oil a threaded projection or annular bolt 17,secured to the frame or bearing 8 bya collar 18 and bolts 19; but thebolt 17, instead of being secured to the part 8, may be formed integraltherewith. The sleeve l5 is fitted with a number of teeth or sprockets20, around which is passed an endless sprocket band or chain 21, whichband passes upward over a sprocket-sleeve 22, loosely mounted on thehand-wheel shaft The sleeve 22 is provided for convenience with a diskhandle or wheel 24.

The operation of the invention is very simple and quite obvious. When itis desired to change from steam-steering to hand-steering, it is onlynecessary, the engines being at rest, to turn the disk handle or wheel24: in the required direction to cause the sleeve 15 to back off itsbolt 17 a short distance. This linear travel of the nut or sleeve 15will pull on the rod 13, which, keyed to the drum 9, will pull the samealong the shaft 6, uncoupling the clutch 12 from the worm-wheel 5. Thisbeing done by moving the large handwheel 25, hand-power is transmittedthrough the gearing 2G, shaft 27, and gearing 28 to the drum-shaft 6,which, being thus rotated, revolves the drum 9, and thus, through thechains 10, controls the rudder. The reverse movement of the disk-handle2%, it is obvious, will, by imparting a reverse movement to thecoupling-rod 13, again couple the drum to the engine-power mechanismwhen desired. It is obvious that the sleeve 22, with its diskhandle 24,instead of being mounted on the wheel-shaft, may be mounted upon aspecial shaft or center of its own at anypoint within convenient reachof the helmsman, as upon a bulk-head or wall of thepilot-house. It islikewise obvious that the sprocket memberornut 15, instead of having afemale screw within a hollow hub, may operate as a male screw within asleeve or nut in line with the drumshaft. A sliding friction-clutch orspringclutch of any well-known form may be substituted for the clutchshown, as the form of the clutch constitutes no part of this invention;nor is it material to this invention by what kind of gearing thedrum-shat t is'driven, or whether directly by the engine-power andhand-power without the intervention of gearing in either or both cases.

lVhile sprocket-gearing such as illustrated in the drawings ispreferable from its positive character, yet of course any band or beltmay be substituted therefor that will transmit the motion of the sleeveor hub 22 to the member 15.

Having thus fully described my said invention, I claim In a steeringapparatus for ships, in combination with a power-driven wheel and asteering drum separately connected by a coupling between them andmounted upon a shaft 6, a rod 13, keyed at one end to said drum within abore in said shaft, a screwthreaded nut 15, a fixed threaded bolt 17,said rod 13 being secured to said nut at its outer end by a nut andcollar and said nut 15 being mounted on said bolt 17 to rotate thereon,and a sleeve or pulley 22, mounted on a fixed center, so as to rotatethereon and connected by an endless belt or chain to said nut 15,whereby upon the rotation of said sleeve the power-driven wheel and thesteering-drum are either connected or disconnected, as may be desired,for the purposes set forth.

J OI'IN D. \VILLIAMSON, JR.

Witnesses:

O. WESLEY RUFFELL, MATHIAS SEDDINGER.

It is hereby certified that Letters Patent N 0. 472,324, granted April5, 1892, upon the application of John D. Williamson, jr., ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, for an im-v provement in SteeringApparatus}? was erroneously issued to the inventor and George W.Williamson and William O. Williamson, as joint owners of said invention;whereas the patent should have been granted to said George W. Williamsonand William (J. Williamson and one John D. Williamson, they being ownersof the entire interest as shown by the assignments of record in thePatent Office; and it is further certified that an error appears in the.printed specification requiring correction, as follows: In line 70,page 2, the word separately should read separably; and that the saidLetters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that thesame may conform to the ecord of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 26th day of April, A. D. 1892.

OYRU-S BUSSEY, Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

[SEAL] Counter-signed:

-W. E. SIMONDS,

Commissioner of Patents.

